


The Reunion

by Silverilly



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Angst, Gen, Hate, Mild Language, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 16:58:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5213711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverilly/pseuds/Silverilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cave Johnson visits GLaDOS for the first time. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Reunion

“You’re not going anywhere near her with that thing.”

Cave Johnson tried not to make eye contact with the silent machine that sat on his desk—though did it count as eye contact if it didn’t have eyes? He wasn’t sure, and he wasn’t interested in finding out. Discovery wasn’t so exciting these days.

“Johnson, I really think the cores could help us stabilize the machine—and it  _needs_ to be stabilized. It keeps trying to kill us.”

“That’s  _Mister Johnson_ to you,” he grumbled. No one in the damn company had any sense of respect anymore. He’d have had the idiot scientist fired, but even firing people had lost its charm lately. “She’ll be fine. She’s just a little confused, that’s all. She’s still  _Caroline_.”

The experiment had been a huge success. Cave’s body had been too fragile to upload; the process, explained the scientists, would have only killed him. They’d needed someone younger, someone not weakened by disease. They’d needed Caroline.

He’d volunteered her.

Now, apparently, she kept trying to kill everyone in sight. Cave himself was not included in that description—perhaps because he hadn’t actually seen her yet. He was too weak, explained his doctors. He needed to build up his strength first. They didn’t seem to realize he was getting weaker by the day, that the only thing keeping him alive was the thought of her.

“ _Mister_ Johnson,” started the scientist—although Cave caught the eyeroll that accompanied the words, “we need to try something drastic. It won’t obey us.”

Cave shook his head. “I’m not gonna let you mess with her mind like that. She just doesn’t wanna listen to a bunch of idiots.” He took hold of the cane that had become his crutch in the absence of her shoulder. “I’m gonna go talk some sense into her.”

The scientist let out an exasperated sigh. “Johnson, you  _know_ what the doctors—”

“Screw the doctors!” With great effort, he pulled himself to his feet. “She’ll listen to  _me_ , so I’m going up to see her!  _I_ run this company until she’s started to figure herself out—maybe you oughta remember that!”

“Fine.” The scientist’s voice was bitter. “Do whatever you want.”

He always did.

* * *

The elevator ride threw flutters through his stomach. Transferring Caroline’s mind to the machine had taken months; he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone so long without her at his side. Now, finally, they could be reunited. He was excited, even giddy, but he was nervous, too. Although he wouldn’t allow the thought to formulate, a part of him wondered if the transfer would have made her forget him.

He approached her chamber alone. The scientists would be there for observation, but they’d be in a secluded, presumably safe room to the side. Cave refused to join them, to talk to his girl through some disjointed microphone. This needed to be a face-to-face conversation. There had been a brief argument about this, but no one really felt like arguing with him today.

He saw the chassis long before he entered. She was beautiful.

Finally, Cave stood before her, staring up at the massive form. She wasn’t moving, not yet; the scientists hadn’t taken her out of sleep mode. He nodded to signal that he was ready.  _This is it_.

A switch was flipped, and he suddenly heard the buzz of energy flowing through her—and then he  _saw_ it. Her movements were slow, as if she were reluctantly waking from a long nap, but she was  _moving_.

The light of her optic flicked on.

He smiled. “Hey there, kiddo.”

She was silent. The only indication that she’d even heard him was a slight tilt of her faceplate, as if she was…curious. The corners of Cave’s lips twitched, but he refused to let them fall. She’d only just woken up, and he hadn’t seen her in a long time. And hey—she wasn’t trying to kill him. From what he’d heard, that was a big deal.

“C’mon, princess. You remember me, right? I know you—a sucker for my good looks. You always did love your boss, old—”

“ _M-m-miiister…Johnson_?”

Relief rushed through him, so forceful that it was almost painful.  _She knew him_. Her voice was wrong, broken, robotic, but she was still  _Caroline_. He’d done it. He’d saved her. “That’s right. That’s right, kiddo. I’m here to help you feel better.”  _I missed you._

“ _Johnson, Johhhnnnsssonnnn, why do I…_ ”

The chassis—her  _body_ —was quaking. It wasn’t a gentle, human shiver; it was a tremor that made the ground at his feet buzz, made the room seem small and dizzy. Cave surged forth, knowing that she would understand eventually. Caroline always came around.

“Now, the lab boys’ve been telling me you’ve been causing a bit of a ruckus around here. That’s my Caroline—always full of fire.” He beamed at her, not noticing how the light of her optic had shrunk at her name, how she drew her faceplate back. “I know you’re just getting on your feet—uh, metaphorically speaking, that is. But you gotta calm down. You can do that, right? It’s all for science, after all.”

Her body no longer quivered; it was now rocking back and forth, the motion becoming increasingly violent as he continued to speak.

“Anyway, as soon as you’re up and running you can get started on taking care of the place. I probably…won’t be around much longer. Still haven’t figured out how to fix this old man’s brain—good thing we backed yours up before it was too late. You gotta learn the ways of this place before I’m gone, so you gotta stop trying to kill everyone you see. Can you do that, kiddo?”

“ _Yes, sir, Mister…Mister…_ ”

She froze mid-swing, her faceplate aimed at the ceiling, her body twisted in a tight coil. Cave watched her optic widen as she turned it to focus on him. He wasn’t sure how, but he thought he saw a flash of understanding cross her synthetic, inhuman face.

“ ** _You._** ”

Cave hadn’t known a computerized voice could carry so much venom.

The CEO frowned, leaning on his cane and peering up at her. “Yeah, Caroline. It’s me. Cave Johnson. You know—the guy who’s been paying you all these years? The guy who saved your life?”

“ ** _You did this to me_**.”

She unfurled before him, bringing her faceplate closer. For some reason, he felt naked under her gaze. He took a step back without knowing why. “Caroline…”

A high-pitched, staccato sound tore through his eardrums, sending his weak heart into a frenzy. After a few moments, he realized she was  _laughing_. No, not laughing—cackling.

“ _I’m **not** your Caroline, Mis-ter John-son._” She punctuated every syllable in his name coldly, clinically. “ _She’s **dead**.”_

Bile rose in his throat. “No. No, Caroline, you’re just…you’re just a little confused. You’ll understand soon—”

“ _Mister Johnson. **Sir**._ ” Her voice was dangerously sweet. “ _I am the reason you’re here. Did you know that? Without me, you’d be rotting in jail by now. And despite everything, you were **still** stupid enough to go and get yourself sick. I always knew you were a moron_.”

“Caroline, what in the hell are you—”

A cable sprang forth from the pile of wires that kept her alive, careening at him so quickly that he barely saw it. He only recognized what was happening when he heard the clatter of his cane hitting the floor, the object no longer necessary as she twisted herself around him and dragged him 30 feet above the floor.

“ _But you weren’t satisfied with just killing yourself, were you? You had to take **me** down with you—and the best part is, I can’t die. I get to live forever!_” There was another cackle, mixing in dissonance with his cough-ridden screams. “ _That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it, Mister Johnson? I get to live forever. **Like this**.” ****_

He felt the cable tighten around him, his already decrepit lungs begging for air. If the drop didn’t kill him, suffocation would. “C-Caroline…” he gasped.

“ _She’s dead, Mister Johnson. **You murdered her**.”_

Her voice exploded in the words, perfectly musical and yet perfectly atonal. She lifted him even higher and he knew she was preparing to slam him to the ground. Cave Johnson had tasted death for months, but he’d forgotten what terror tasted like. It was not supposed to end like this—but it was going to. He was finally going to die.

She stopped.

It was suddenly silent, silent except for the blood rushing through his ears. He felt her grip loosen, his breath free once more, but she didn’t drop him. When he opened his eyes—after realizing he’d squeezed them shut—he discovered that he was descending slowly, gracefully, to the ground. Confused, he forced himself to look at her new, mechanical head.

Her optic was dark.

“Johnson!” The door swung open and two lab workers rushed in, their eyes wide with panic. The man who’d shouted reached toward the CEO as he gently touched the floor; the other, female scientist quickly retrieved his cane. “Johnson, I’m so sorry—she overrode the system and we couldn’t hit the kill switch until she almost—well, you’re okay, right? Next time we’ll take better precautions—if you’d just let us use the cores—”

“Turn it off.”

The scientist frowned in confusion. “The machine’s already in rest mode. You’re perfectly safe.”

“No.” He suddenly felt exhausted. “I mean  _turn it off_. For good. That…that  _thing_ …it’s not her. That’s not Caroline.”

“Please.” The female scientist shook her head. “We’ve got something really extraordinary here.”

“ _That’s not Caroline_. We failed.” Cave sank into his cane, wishing he had something sturdier to hold onto. It was nearly impossible to stand. “Tear it up and sell the scraps. I don’t care. We’re terminating.”

“But—”

 _“Now!_ ” he snapped. And finally they left him, accepting his orders, and he sank to the ground.

The pile of machinery hung mere feet from him, but he did not allow himself to look at it. It didn’t matter. Caroline would have never spoken to him like that. She’d adored him. He refused to believe she could have ever hated him—and so the machine could not be her.

She was dead. He’d done everything to save her, but in the end, he’d killed her. He closed his eyes.

He never did science again.


End file.
